Penn. State Senator Backs Ban On Sweepstakes Videogames

HARRISBURG, PA -- Pennsylvania State Sen. Wayne D. Fontana (D-Brookline) is backing a House measure that would ban sweepstakes videogames as a form of illegal gambling under Pennsylvania state law.

Bill No. 1893 passed the House unanimously last October and is now before the Senate's Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee, which Fontana chairs.

Fontana wrote that sweepstakes videogames are currently legal in Pennsylvania through "a loophole that allows them to fall outside of the state gaming law" in an opinion piece published by the Dormont-Brookline Patch.

The senator endorsed the measure as a way to strengthen the state's legal casino industry, and to increase tax revenues generated by casinos.